Help Record search in Sanders case

Sunday

Jun 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The last thing East Stroudsburg University needed back in 2007 was a claim that its chief fundraiser had sexually harassed a male student. ESU was in the midst of a major fund drive to pay for its new Science and Technology Center. Yet more than one such unsavory charge surfaced against then-Vice President for Advancement and Executive Director of the East Stroudsburg Foundation Isaac Sanders. Over time these and allegations he had mishandled funds tarnished his reputation and eventually, it seems, cost him his job.

The last thing East Stroudsburg University needed back in 2007 was a claim that its chief fundraiser had sexually harassed a male student. ESU was in the midst of a major fund drive to pay for its new Science and Technology Center. Yet more than one such unsavory charge surfaced against then-Vice President for Advancement and Executive Director of the East Stroudsburg Foundation Isaac Sanders. Over time these and allegations he had mishandled funds tarnished his reputation and eventually, it seems, cost him his job.

But the process took a long time. It involved anonymous letters, lawsuits, colleague complaints, investigations and, irony of ironies, both a bonus and a glowing employee review for Sanders shortly before he left ESU.

If it all sounds curious to you, that's good. It sure did to the Pocono Record. Lawsuits generally cause people to clam up, and ESU officials were no exception. So in 2009 this newspaper filed formal requests under the Freedom of Information Act for documents that would help shed light on the complicated story. By this time it included claims that Sanders had tried to trade sexual favors from young men for ESU scholarships and other gifts. More questions surfaced about whether he might have diverted donations that were given to scholarships or the building fund to his own, personal purposes, and whether ESU's popular president at the time, Robert Dillman, knew but said nothing.

Sanders was fired from his job in October 2008 after an investigation by an outside law firm. But it's only now, almost five years later and thanks to a favorable ruling from the state Supreme Court, that the Pocono Record has obtained the documents it sought. All 13,889 pages of them.

That's where your curiosity comes in. Our small staff needs help to comb through the mountain of paper that chronicles a part of the story: letters, forms, research and other papers relevant to six donors and others. What we're trying to find is evidence of scholarship money ending up in other ESU Foundation accounts, endowments diverted to other purposes, building campaign pledges versus what actually got recorded as gifts.

So, the saga of sex and money continues. Interested? Read Dan Berrett's story on today's A1 and follow the link to the document cache on our website. If you find anything of note, email us at poconorecordhelper@gmail.com citing the document batch and page numbers.

Your tax dollars pay much of the salaries and other operational costs at ESU. You deserve to know how its officials conducted their business, including how those at the very top managed free will gifts designed to further the prospects of its students.